Some 'found' treasures..

Hello friends, I hope you all had a very blessed Easter!

I thought I'd show you a couple of things which my hubby found recently.

This is a very rough wooden box which he brought home 3 weeks ago.
It's just an old home-made thing which is a bit warped and worn and rusty.

Someone had simply thrown it out onto the side of the road and probably left it for rubbish removal.

But it came home with The Woodman instead, and now sits on my kitchen bench to help hide the phone cables and other electrical connections.

We just cleaned it up and left the peeling paint finish alone for the time being.
We think it adds to it's rustic charm :-)

Less than a week later, he went to check on his wood-working shed in town, and found a large stoneware crock sitting in front of the door.
I'm really happy that it has a well-fitted lid which will be very useful for storage.

We have no idea who left it for us.

Fun things like that happen all the time around here!

We've been "gifted" anonymously several times like this.

People often leave us the odd chair or wooden furniture items or other small things that they think we might like and find a good home for.

It's no secret - everyone around here knows that we love "old things" lol!

Fun and frugality

Good morning, world!

Hope you are having a lovely day, wherever you are and, whatever you're doing today.

I've decided to use this blog space for some fun from now on!

The Woodman and I are still moving in the direction of the 'simple life' and enjoying what we are learning along the way,

but I've come to realise that I need an outlet for relaxation and a new interest of mine..

  Prim style decorating!

I've fallen in love with candles in jars and quirky cloth dolls, lol!

As someone who is at times far too serious, this 'Country Chook' is looking forward to a bit of frivolity - as well as finding new ways to use some of our vintage collections instead of getting rid of them.

Frugal and fun...sounds good to me!

prim blessings! ..Trish

Going to Gran's house

When I was a little girl, my mother would often take me to my Gran's house for lunch and afternoon tea.

We'd travel by train and bus and then take a short walk from the bus-stop to Ethel St.

I always loved turning the corner and spying the pretty pink lantana hedge, which grew along the front fence, past the gate and down both sides of the pathway to Gran's front door!



The house was very old and large with a shaded verandah running around all four sides.

It's ceilings were extremely high and all the rooms seemed voluminous to this small girl.

We would sit at the family table in the big kitchen, surrounded by cupboards of various sizes and designs.

While the adults chatted over their tea, I would look around and wonder what lay stored up in all those old wooden cupboards.

Homemade pies and cakes would emerge from them as the day wore on...and fizzy ginger beer or even fruit wines!

Eventually, I would leave the talk and wander out to the backyard, where fragrant roses grew on big bushes and budgerigars sang and whistled from their fancy cages.

Time somehow seemed to slow down whenever I was there, at Gran's old house.

 Memories.. can be funny things I suppose.

Perhaps I just choose to see those magic days through the romantic eyes of the day-dreaming child I used to be.

All I know is that 40 years later...I still dream of having my own big shady, wrap-around verandahs, and a pretty pink lantana hedge!

image source: Spots and Greens

Around the yard this week..

Strolling through the early morning light is such a peaceful joy.

I love to watch the shadows play across the grass and paths.

In the vegie patch outback, the garlic is growing well and bursting into bloom.

And we have already been eating delicious Spring Onions for a few weeks now.

Rhubarb is about to go into home-made pies and hopefully some sauces to store away.

And the softest roses are continuing to delight us with their delicate presence and grace.

Everywhere I look, I see something in our backyard to be thankful for!

Life..

Isn't it wonderful!?

*

He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate,

bringing forth food from the earth!

Psalm 104:14

Spring Blossoms

Hello dear friends,

It's a lovely Spring day 'down under',

with big blue skies and warm sun,

and fragrant blossoms wafting on gentle breezes.

 I want to share some it's pink prettiness from my garden with you today.

 Daisies and Rhododendrons and Azaleas...

dark pink ones..

and soft pastels

All too soon, they will finish their beautiful flowering..
 fall in gentle flurries like snow..
carpeting the ground beneath with the last of their Spring loveliness .

***

Catching up..this past month




I have been wanting to get some chooks for quite some time now, and finally this month we were able to  install a hen-house in a corner of our yard and set up home for 4 chickens.

I am very pleased with them and happy about how they came into our possession.

We got them by old-fashioned bartering!

My hubby will be repairing the timber frame on a friend's sofa in exchange for these chickens and their coop.

Over the years he has been able to use his skills in this way to provide us with a number of things for our home.

It's the way we like best - no money - just sharing!



Our new hens give us at least 3 eggs per day which is ample for the two of us, and leaves some to give away to friends and neighbours.

Besides that, they provide us with much entertainment and company - they really are funny creatures with sweet personalities!


I think they're bound to live out a long life here;  none of us has the heart or will to turn them into a chicken dinner any time soon lol!





We are much more into pet-cuddling than culling  :-)



Speaking of cuddling - my son's girlfriend and I are cuddling up to my 94yr old mother in this photo.

She has just left today to go back home after spending the past week holidaying with us.
I  am so blessed to have such a healthy and spritely mother still with me at her advanced age!
She had a ton of fun watching the chooks and all their antics which brought back many memories of her own childhood and mine.
Her parents were country folk and always had hens, and she and my dad did the same.
I was raised with the iconic backyard chookpen and vegie patch and have hankered for my own for ages!
Now I have both at last.
I spend lots of contented moments throughout my days watching and tending to them and thanking the Lord for His provision.
This month we've taken some more small steps in simplicity - and that makes me very happy indeed!

http://homesteadrevival.blogspot.com/

Simple Joys~ sunshine

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy

Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry

Sunshine on the water looks so lovely

Sunshine almost always makes me high

If I had a day that I could give you

I'd give to you a day just like today

If I had a song that I could sing for you

I'd sing a song to make you feel this way

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy

Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry

Sunshine on the water looks so lovely

Sunshine almost always makes me high

If I had a tale that I could tell you

I'd tell a tale sure to make you smile

If I had a wish that I could wish for you

I'd make a wish for sunshine all the while

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy

Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry

Sunshine on the water looks so lovely

Sunshine almost always makes me high

Sunshine almost all the time makes me high

Sunshine almost always..

song..Sunshine on my Shoulder - by John Denver

photos..scenes of my Australian Spring day

***

Wishing you a golden day bathed in the warm rays of God 's love..

Trish

Signs of Spring

The Magpies and Pied Currawongs are getting ready for Spring.

The other day I found a dozen of them feasting in our front yard on the berries of this bush.

They have also been visiting my backyard and raiding the vegie patch for straw.

This one found a Virginia Creeper vine offcut was more to it's liking.

So it carried it up to the carport roof

and onto the garage

and flew off with it's ill-gotten gains!

The next day she was back trying to pinch the plastic framework that supports my climbing Geranium :-(

That must be some nest she's building lol!

They can be fun to observe but Currawongs are predators who will kill and eat small birds.

I don't want to encourage them around here as we have a wonderful large wren population that we dearly love and would hate to lose them to these 'brutes'!

On another note...we have peas growing in the herb box!

They have germinated from the peastraw mulch that we used to help build the box up.

I've read that these peas are not so good for human consumption as they are generally small and hard and are mainly used for stock feed.

Has anyone had experience with harvesting and eating these peas?

I'm not sure if we should try for that or just use them for extra mulch.

Any advice would be appreciated :-)

blessings..Trish